REDLANDS >> The city has taken a few more steps toward its goal of boosting the profitability of Hillside Memorial Park.

The City Council on Tuesday made several decisions on recommendations in the business plan adopted in March, including terminating the contract with the consultant who developed the plan.

The 129-year-old cemetery, at 1540 Alessandro Road, has been running a deficit for 23 years, according to city staff and is in need of physical repairs — all of which have been addressed in the business plan prepared by consultant Ryan M. Lee.

The council approved a contract with Lee in September and in April, agreed to extend his contract six more months to help implement the plan until a permanent cemetery manager could be hired.

On Tuesday the council terminated Lee’s contract effective July 26 to allow an in-house manager to continue implementing the plan, according to the city staff report.

The city expects to save about $44,930 by terminating the contract. It has paid Lee about $34,509 to date, according to the report.

Lee said terminating his contract would mean losing out on $150,000 of grant funding he was to seek for the city.

“Essentially what we’re doing here by eliminating this contract is ceasing all grant funding options, so the fiscal impact of this is going to lose a minimum of $150,000, and we’ve presented to the Quality of Life Department over $800,000 worth of grant applications that we want to submit by September,” he said to the council on Tuesday. “So you’re really cutting off your nose to spite your face on this.”

The business plan calls for the use of endowment funds to be used toward needed improvements, which was approved by the City Council in March.

Lee said he would not have supported the use of Cemetery Endowment Funds without a plan to aggressively pursue grant money.

Quality of Life Department Director Fred Cardenas said they had already passed the deadline for grants and that city staff will continue the grant search.

“We filled two positions in Quality of Life that were vacant for a period of time,” Cardenas said. “Those two individuals come to us from other cities with a tremendous amount of grant-writing and research experience. Those individuals are already working on the list given to us by Mr. Lee.”

The city is still seeking a full-time cemetery manager.

Also on Tuesday, the City Council approved the Hillside Cemetery Road Resurfacing Project and a $395,331 contract with All American Asphalt to do the work.

The business plan identified several roads in need of repair.

To help pay for the repaving, the City Council agreed earlier that night to lend the Cemetery Operating Fund $634,000 from the Cemetery Endowment Fund.

The loan will cover costs related to bench and pedestal estates and costs to replace pipeline, which will be done by staff from the city’s Municipal Utilities and Engineering Department. The pipeline replacement is in conjunction with the road repaving.

City Manager N. Enrique Martinez said city staff will update the City Council on the cemetery’s progress every six months.

He said it is the city’s goal to have the endowment funds repaid in eight years.

“I think the business plan does in fact show how we will get all those back within a relatively short time and not only repay them, but they will grow substantially larger than they were when we started,” said Councilman John James.

The council also approved a list of fees for new services and products outlined in the business plan.

Some of the new services and products include private and semi-private estates, bench and pedestal estates, cremation services, a cremation garden and various cremation estates.

The plan proposes a crematorium to be built at the cemetery.

The council approved a resolution establishing rules and regulations covering Hillside’s operation and management.